X-ray apparatus



y 1 1938.. E. R. GOLDFlEtD X-RAY APPARATUS Filed Oct. 25, 1957 9 RH WWW 0 E TD N N R W o m w m A v- W B E Patented May 17, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIQE X-RAY APPARATUS Application October 25, 1937, Serial No. 170,810

3 Claims.

This invention relates to X-ray apparatus and more particularly to an arrangement and form of units thereof by which new technique in fluoroscopy and radiology is facilitated.

The invention contemplates a table which may be a tilting table, a pair of X-ray tubes disposed one above and the other below the table, and selective operation of the tubes by a single transformer unit, objects of the invention including such long narrow form and such location of the transformer unit as to permit the shortest connections with the tubes, so that the apparatus occupies less floor area, the upper tube is now rigidly supported and there is least obstruction to the operator of the apparatus.

The exact nature of this invention together with further objects and advantages thereof will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,

in which Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are conventionalized views illustrative of an embodiment of the invention observed respectively as in plan, side and end elevations, parts being broken away in Fig. 3 to show units located beneath the table;

and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating electrical connections for the parts.

With reference now to the drawing, I represents generally a tilting table adjusted horizontally by its usual crank handle la to support a patient in prone position. The table is masked at the sides and ends as illustrated and includes within the housing thus formed the usual grid diaphragm assembly 2 and an X-ray tube 3 both having the usual adjustability by the operator through means including handle means 2a at the table side. The table may also be provided with the usual fluoroscopic screen 4.

5 is the upright of a tube stand having a base 6 back of and adjacent the table I with runners Ba extending alongside the table between the end frame parts illustrated, the tube stand having an arm 1 extending above the table I and there carrying an X-ray tube head 8. The tube stand construction permits the usual adjustment of its tube head 8 lengthwise of the base by movement of the upright 5 along the base runners 6a, crosswise of the table by adjustment of the head along the arm 1, and vertically by adjustment of the arm 1 up and down the upright 5. Also as usual the tube head is tiltably adjustable on the arm 1.

A transformer unit 9 of narrow, elongated form, is located closely alongside the table at its back, between the table and the base 6, and bebeing low enough to be cleared by the arm 1 and screen support column ta, in any adjusted position.

The housing of the transformer unit, as it appears in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, contains certain electrical apparatus appearing in Fig. 4, of capacity sufficient to serve one of the X-ray tubes 3, 8, a controller unit, preferably mobile, not shown and forming no part of the invention, being provided to permit the operator to adjust the tube operating conditions.

As indicated in Fig. 4, the transformer unit includes a high tension transformer l0, four high tension rectifying valve tubes II, a filament transformer l2 for each valve tube, and an X-ray tube filament transformer l3, lines L1 to Le leading from the control unit to the transformer unit, lines L1 and L2 for control of the transformer !3, lines L3 and L; for control of the transformers l2, and lines L5 and L6 for control of the transformer Ill.

The described parts within the transformer unit have connections leading to the terminals l4 and !5 within the housing, and the arrangement is such that these terminals supply high tension current, the terminal I4 having two conductors which together supply X-ray tube filament current.

The transformer housing has at its top four terminals, Ma. and lb at one end and [5a and I517 at the other end, thereby providing a pair for each of the terminals l4 and I5 within the housing. The X-ray tube 8 has shockproof cables 8a providing operating connections with the terminals 14a and l5a, and the X-ray tube 3 has shockproof cables 3w providing operating connections with the terminals Mb and l5b.

Switch means are provided within the housing of the transformer unit for selectively connecting either X-ray tube with the transformer unit for operation thereby subject to adjustment of a controller l6 on the outside of the unit. Such means is here conventionally shown as a doublepole double-throw switch 14, a single-pole double-throw switch l5, and the linkage ll interconnecting both switches with the controller Hi. In Fig. 4 the controller and switches are shown as adjusted counterclockwise to connect the X-ray tube 8 for operation by the transformer unit, the tube 3 having no operating connection. From this position the controller may be adjusted clockwise approximately to disconnect the tube 8 and instead connect the tube 3.

Conveniently, the table, tube stand, and

transformer unit rest upon the floor as indicated in Fig. 3, in close proximity to each other as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, so that the assembly is decidedly compact, its compactness as a whole being due to considerable extent to the long narrow form of the transformer unit 9. Further, ordinarily the base of the tube stand will be adjacent and alongside a wall of the room in which the apparatus is located; thus in front of the wall Figs. 1 and 2, and to the left of the wall Fig. 3. The usual position of the operator is at the side of the table removed from this wall, from which position the operator may accomplish most of the necessary adjustments of the parts, including all adjustments of the tilting table, the tube 3 and the Bucky tube, tilting and lateral adjustment of the tube 8, most adjustments of the fluoroscopic screen 4, and all adjustments of the control unit if the latter be convenient to the operator at that location as it usually is. For adjustment of the tube stand to move the upper tube 8 vertically or lengthwise of the table, it may be necessary for the operator to step to the far side of the table between the table and the tube stand base. The transformer unit itself, however, is not particularly in the way durng such operations, as the upright 5 of the tube stand may be approached either from left or right.

For the occasional necessary adjustment of the controller 16 for selection of the X-ray tube to be operated, a remote control may be arranged from the mobile control unit, but in any event the transformer unit is always easily accessible, if manual control only is provided.

This unit, being an expensive and heavy piece of apparatus, and no technique requiring simultaneous operation of both X-ray tubes, its capacity need only be sufficient for operation of one of the tubes. And the necessary and possibly dangerous high tension connections from the transformer unit to the tubes are of the shortest possible length and farthest removed from both operator and patient.

What I claim is:

1. X-ray apparatus of the class described comprising a table having an X-ray tube therebeneath, a tube stand having a base adjacent said table and an X-ray tube adjustable above the table, transformer means located closely alongside said table and between said table and said base and substantially midway between the ends of the latter, and means providing shockproof operating connections for selective operation of either of said tubes from said transformer means.

2. X-ray apparatus of the class described comprising a table having a patient-supporting face and an X-ray tube therebehind, said table being mounted for adjustment between horizontal and vertical positions about an axis closer to the foot end than the head end of said face, a tube stand having a base adjacent said table and carrying an X-ray tube for adjustment opposite the table face when the table is in either position, transformer means located between said table and said base to be substantially flush with said table face when the latter is vertically disposed, and means providing shockproof operating connections for both said tubes from said transformer means and including switch means for selectively operating either tube.

3. X-ray apparatus of the class described comprising a table having an X-ray tube therebeneath, a tube stand having a base adjacent said table, a column movable along said base, and an X-ray tube carried by said column to be adjustable above the table, said table having a fluoroscopic screen adjustable therealong, with a supporting member extending toward said tube stand base, and movable in a path clearing said tube carrying column, transformer means located closely alongside said table and between said table and said base, and overhung by the path of said screen supporting member, and means providing shockproof operating connections for selective operation of either of said tubes from said transformer means.

EDWIN R. GOLDFIELD. 

